CASE STUDY

Enabling a Customer-Centric
Experience through Project Management
Organization: du Telecom and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
Industry: Telecommunications
Lesson Learned: Project management collaboration is an enabler for customer experience.

BACKGROUND
Throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE), du Telecom provides
mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV When asked what contributes
(Internet Protocol Television) services to people, homes, and to their success, Imran Malik,
businesses. Senior Director Enterprise
Project Management,
When it opened for business in 2006, the company boldly entered
Commercial for du Telecom,
what was already a saturated market with 100% penetration.
emphasized that success
Although du Telecom recognized that the telecom industry in the
Arabian Gulf is fast growing and that the company would face ever-
belongs to those companies with
increasing competition, it approached the market as an opportunity mature project management
rather than an obstacle. practices in place.

Within four years, du had acquired almost 40% of the regions mobile
market share and was maintaining an annual growth rate of more than
32% in a saturated market.1

Established in 1987, Huawei is a global leader of ICT solutions and the largest telecommunications equipment
maker in the world.2 Their telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions, and smart devices are used in
170 countries and regions.

In 2013, du signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.,3 a Chinese
multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company. With this understanding,
du and Huawei are working together to better define the best practices in portfolio and project management
concepts, processes and techniques for their industry, including knowledge transfer and research.4

Du and Huawei are operating what they term a distributed PMO in two countries. This requires that
both understand how a PMO functions in that type of environment. The two companies decided to work
Enabling a Customer-Centric Experience through Project Management March 2015

together to exchange best practice industry methodologies, concepts,

tools and techniques, while also better defining best practice portfolio
Both companies recognize that,
management concepts, processes, and techniques.
although every project is unique
in its own way, there exist
THE CHALLENGE certain basic values that should
Du knows that every project takes place in a specific context, be it be consistent and that define
a stand-alone project or part of a greater program, or one among a project work. These basic values
portfolio of projects. A project may also involve a team whose members include objectives, constraints,
have never worked together before, and it may require assigning and the project life cycle.
responsibilities and roles to people who are new to them. All of these
factors are identified and considered as part of a project. With all of
these considerations in mind, du was looking for partners who could
help them overcome these challenges. This provided the trigger to
initiate an engagement with Huawei.

In a region marked by fierce competition, telecom operators contend

Its important to remember
with constant change and long-term uncertainty. One key shortcoming that the level of detail needed at
that du explored for surmounting these challenges was the role of the various project states must
project leadershipa capability that delegates and facilitates faster be appropriate for the size and
decision making and improves time to market. complexity of the project.

~~ Imran Malik, Senior Director

THE SOLUTION Enterprise Project Management,
Commercial for du Telecom
Project leadership is a skill that requires time to developin a person
or an organization. Achieving success requires an analysis of setbacks
and failures as a roadmap for improvement. Focusing on each projects
challenges and learning from them helps build a more successful project
management capability.

PMIs in-depth report Capturing the Value of Project Management Through Knowledge Transfer reveals that
while capturing lessons learned is critical, what an organization does with that knowledge once it is captured, is
equally important.5

As part of the MoU, Huawei and du work together to improve project management practices between the two
companies through knowledge sharing, exchange visits, and other forms of collaboration.

Having robust project management capabilities gives decision makers real-time visibility on project health,
trends on investment returns, and the appropriate control to enable decision making that reduces uncertainty
and opens up opportunities.

As part of the process, du and Huawei use the OPM3 model to accomplish management and control.
Organizations turn to OPM3 because it helps them bridge the gap between strategy and individual projects.
It provides a way to advance strategic interests through the application of project management principles
and practices. This generates consistently successful, high-quality projects that achieve their goals in a timely
manner.

2 2015 Project Management Institute, Inc.

Enabling a Customer-Centric Experience through Project Management March 2015

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
As a result of their collaboration, both companies report a reduction in project failure, an appropriate level of
quality, and results that meet requirements and customer expectations. Both were also able to free up staff for other
assignments and increase efficiency both on the project and within the business, making things simpler and easier for
staff.

Du and Huawei instituted a single point of contact responsible for the management of an overall project. This
produces consistent communications among staff and suppliers and also keeps costs, timeframes, and resources
within budget.

Finally, robust project management practices are all about managing customer expectations with a customer-centric
vision. Within the du TelecomHuawei collaboration, project management practices touched upon the DNA of
the telecom business, which is customer experience. Project management became the enabler for that customer
experience.

For the full story, watch the interview with Imran Malik, Senior Director Enterprise Project Management, Commercial
for du Telecom.

REFERENCES
1
Huawei.com. Corporate. du: The next level. Retrieved from http://www.huawei.com/en/about-huawei/publications/
winwin-magazine/hw-093239.htm

2
Top 10 Telecommunication Equipment Companies 2013. Retrieved from http://www.mbaskool.com/fun-corner/top-
brand-lists/7801-top-10-telecommunication-equipment-companies-2013.html

3
Du signs project management agreement with Huawei. April 17, 2013. Telecoms.com. Retrieved from http://www.
telecoms.com/136912/du-signs-project-management-agreement-with-huawei/

4
Du signs research MoU with Huawei. April 17, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.commsmea.com/13215-du-signs-
research-mou-with-huawei/

5
PMIs Pulse of the Profession in-depth report: Capturing the Value of Project Management Through Knowledge
Transfer. Retrieved from http://www.pmi.org/~/media/PDF/learning/capturing-value-knowledge-transfer.ashx

2015 Project Management Institute, Inc. 3

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